A Steely Determination

Varun Jha, Director (IT Systems), is the key man behind the massive IT usage in Tata Steel, which bagged the CSI award this year for ‘Best IT Implementation’. Having spent more than 20 years in the company, Jha’s experience and understanding has stood the test of time. In an interview with Indranil Chakraborty, Jha talked about the IT functions of his company. Excerpts:

Tata Steel is known for its efficiency. What has been the role of IT in this? IT can be very useful if aligned with organizational objectives. Tata steel has applied IT to its core business processes of production, planning, and scheduling. This has made it possible to increase delivery compliance while keeping inventories at a low level. Another example of this alignment is the use of IT to streamline the invoicing process which has made it possible to hand over invoices and test results to trucks transporting finished steel.

Is using MRP or ERP solutions on company’s mind? We are in the process of implementing an ERP package called Avalon for two profit centers-Tubes and Bearing divisions. Regarding application of an ERP solution to the steel plant, we find that current ERP packages do not meet complex production planning and scheduling requirements of the plant, which has traditionally developed its own systems. Tata Steel has developed a fully-integrated system for its business processes. Information systems for our Flat Product Complex has all the functionalities of an MRP system and it is integrated with other business systems as one would expect from an ERP system. Linkage with sales offices for order entry and online order status has been achieved using a private VSAT network called Tatanet.

What are your plans for increasing IT usage? We have taken up a project for reengineering customer order fulfillment process which will cut across the various functions involved. Our aim is to create an information system with a clear focus on customer satisfaction. As part of this system, production planning will cover processes carried out externally so that there is complete visibility in the order fulfillment process.

How do you cope with rapid obsolescence in the IT industry? We would like to protect our investment in IT infrastructure as long as possible through guarantees of long-term support from vendors. Obsolescence of hardware is accompanied by falling prices and lower cost of ownership which make it possible to cope with obsolescence.

How important is IT to the steel industry? Importance of IT to an industry depends on several factors such as criticality of business transactions to be handled, complexity of processes, and the variability of products and services. Steel industry is characterized by several complex production processes and thus needs a good support through process automation. Further, production processes are vertically integrated and thus need advanced production planning and integrated business systems.

In user industry, IT is implemented either due to technology push or due to demand pull. Which of the two is applicable in Tata Steel? In general, it is demand-pull, users identify opportunities where IT can help improve effectiveness. Appropriate IT systems are then implemented to achieve these objectives. There are some areas where rapidly evolving technology presents itself as a solution to an existing need. Lotus notes or intranet are examples where technological advancement has helped improve communication.

DQ Live SlideShow

Pradeep Gupta, CMD, CyberMedia Group welcoming Dr Arvind Gupta, National Head Information Technology, BJP. Dr Gupta was the Chief Guest of the evening

(L-R) Sunil Sharma, VP, Sales, India & Saarc, Cyberoam and Dr Arvind Gupta, National Head IT giving the Dataquest Business Technology Award to Sapient Consulting for the best IT implementation in security, mobility, unified communications, and infrastructure management

Jubilant Lifesciences received the award for best IT implementation in analytics, mobility, cloud, ERP/SCM/CRM

ING Vysya Bank received the award for best IT implementation in mobility and ERP/SCM/CRM, infrastructure management

Escorts received the award for best IT implementation in analytics and security

Amity received the award for best IT implementation in security and unified communications

LV Bank received the award for best IT implementation in unified communications

Biocon received the award for best IT implementation in mobility and unified communications

Happiest Minds received the award for best IT implementation in security and cloud

HCL Infosystems received the award for best IT implementation in cloud and ERP/SCM/CRM

Evalueserve received the award for best IT implementation in security and cloud

Sterlite Technologies received the award for best IT implementation in analytics and cloud

Serco Global received the award for best IT implementation in mobility and cloud

Intellect Design Arena received the award for best IT implementation in cloud and unified communications

Reliance Entertainment received the award for best IT implementation in analytics and cloud

Canon India received the award for best IT implementation in analytics

Persistant Systems received the award for best IT implementation in analytics

ILFS received the award for best IT implementation in infrastructure management

eClerx received the award for best IT implementation in analytics

Sesa Sterlite received the award for best IT implementation in ERP/SCM/CRM

Hero Moto Corp received the award for best IT implementation in ERP?SCM?CRM

KPIT received the award for best IT implementation in unified communications

JK Tyres received the award for best IT implementation in analytics

Idea Cellular received the award for best IT implementation in analytics

Godfrey Philips received the award for best IT implementation in infrastructure management

Aviva Life Insurance Co received the award for best IT implementation in infrastructure management

Hindalco received the award for best IT implementation in analytics

Aircel received the award for best IT implementation in unified communications

Dr Lal Path Labs received the award for best IT implementation in cloud

Gati received the award for best IT implementation in mobility

Perfetti Van Melle received the award for best IT implementation in cloud

Sheela Foam received the award for best IT implementation in mobility

Tata Communication received the award for best IT implementation in ERP/SCM/CRM

NDTV received the award for best IT implementation in analytics

Hindustan Power received the award for best IT implementation in mobility